ML041700619
| ML041700619 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Indian Point  |
| Issue date: | 06/18/2004 |
| From: | Sheron B NRC/NRR/ADPT |
| To: | Lochbaum D, Matthiessen A Riverkeeper, Union of Concerned Scientists |
| Milano P, NRR/DLPM , 415-1457 | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML041700624 | List: |
| References | |
| 2.206, DD-04-02, G20030545 | |
| Download: ML041700619 (6) | |
Text
June 18, 2004 Mr. Alex Matthiessen Executive Director Riverkeeper, Inc.
25 Wing & Wing Garrison, NY 10524 Mr. David Lochbaum Nuclear Safety Engineer Union of Concerned Scientists 1707 H Street NW, Suite 600 Washington, DC 20006
Dear Messrs. Matthiessen and Lochbaum:
This letter responds to the Petition you filed with Dr. William Travers, Executive Director for Operations, of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) pursuant to Section 2.206 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR 2.206) on September 8, 2003, as supplemented on September 22 and October 29, 2003. In your Petition, you requested that the NRC: (1) take immediate enforcement action against Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. (Entergy), the licensee for Indian Point Nuclear Generating Unit Nos. 2 and 3 (IP2 and 3) in Buchanan, New York, by issuing an Order requiring Entergy to immediately shut down IP2 and 3 and maintain the reactors shut down until the containment sumps are modified to resolve Generic Safety Issue 191 (GSI-191), and (2) as an alternative, should the NRC deny the request to require IP2 and 3 to shut down immediately, issue an Order to prevent plant restart following each plants next refueling outage until such time that the containment sumps are modified to resolve GSI-191. If this alternative is chosen, the Petitioners further requested a requirement to be included within the Order for Entergy to (a) maintain all equipment needed for monitoring leakage of reactor coolant pressure boundary components within containment fully functional and immediately shut down the affected reactor upon any functional impairment to leakage monitoring equipment, and (b) refrain from any activity under 10 CFR 50.59, 10 CFR 50.90,Section VII.C of the NRCs Enforcement Policy, or Generic Letter 91-18, Revision 1, that increases or could increase the probability of a loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA).
On October 22, 2003, the NRC staff acknowledged receiving your Petition and stated that, pursuant to 10 CFR 2.206, your Petition was being referred to the Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, for action and that it would be acted upon within a reasonable time. You were also told that your request that the NRC issue an Order to to immediately shut down IP2 and 3 was denied.
You met with the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulations Petition Review Board (PRB) by telephone on September 24, 2003, to discuss the Petition and provide additional details in support of this request. The transcript of this meeting was treated as a supplement to the Petition and is available in Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) for inspection
A. Matthiessen and D. Lochbaum at the Commissions Public Document Room, located at One White Flint North, Public File Area O-1F21, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland, and from the ADAMS Public Library component on the NRC Web site, http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm.html (the Public Electronic Reading Room).
In letters dated October 15, 2003, and January 20, 2004, Entergy provided information related to the Petition. This information was considered by the staff in its evaluation of the Petition.
In your Petition, you stated that the basis for the requested enforcement actions in the Petition is a lack of reasonable assurance that the IP2 and 3 containment sumps will be able to perform their function during a LOCA. Your conclusions regarding the containment sumps were based on your analysis of publicly available reports that were prepared for the NRC by the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The NRC-sponsored studies that formulate the basis for your requested enforcement actions were performed in support of the NRC staffs review of Generic Safety Issue 191.
Consistent with the generic issue process, the NRC is currently developing guidance to be used by individual plants to evaluate the potential for sump clogging. Although many plants have taken steps to further ensure adequate sump recirculation in the event of a loss-of-coolant accident, an NRC-approved methodology for evaluating each plants sump performance is intended to (1) ensure that each plant evaluates the potential for debris-clogging in a consistent manner based on state-of-the-art, staff-approved methods and plant-specific information; and (2) provide the NRC with the technical basis for ensuring that any proposed solution adequately addresses the issue. If, at any time during the resolution of the generic issue, the NRC should determine that unsafe conditions exist at Indian Point or any other plant, immediate actions will be taken to ensure the continued health and safety of the public.
The staff sent a copy of the Proposed Directors Decision to you and to Entergy for comment on February 19, 2004. You responded with comments on March 30, 2004. Entergy did not provide any comments. Your comments and the staffs response to them are included as enclosures.
A copy of the Directors Decision (DD-04-02) will be filed with the Secretary of the Commission for the Commission to review in accordance with 10 CFR 2.206(c). As provided for by this regulation, the decision will constitute the final action of the Commission 25 days after the date of the decision unless the Commission, on its own motion, institutes a review of the decision within that time. The documents cited in the enclosed decision are available in ADAMS for inspection.
A. Matthiessen and D. Lochbaum I have also enclosed a copy of the notice of Issuance of Directors Decision Under 10 CFR 2.206" that has been filed with the Office of the Federal Register for publication.
Please feel free to contact the Petition Manager, Patrick Milano, at 301-415-1457 to discuss any questions related to this Petition.
Sincerely,
/RA/
Brian W. Sheron, Acting Director Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket Nos. 50-247 and 50-286
Enclosures:
- 1. Directors Decision 04-02
- 2. Petitioners Comments on Proposed Directors Decision
- 3. Staffs Response to Petitioners Comments
- 4. Federal Register Notice cc w/encls: See next page
A. Matthiessen and D. Lochbaum I have also enclosed a copy of the notice of Issuance of Directors Decision Under 10 CFR 2.206" that has been filed with the Office of the Federal Register for publication.
Please feel free to contact the Petition Manager, Patrick Milano, at 301-415-1457 to discuss any questions related to this Petition.
Sincerely,
/RA/
Brian W. Sheron, Acting Director Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation Docket Nos. 50-247 and 50-286
Enclosures:
- 1. Directors Decision 04-02
- 2. Petitioners Comments on Proposed Directors Decision
- 3. Staffs Response to Petitioners Comments
- 4. Federal Register Notice cc w/encls: See next page DISTRIBUTION:
PUBLIC J. Dyer/R. Borchardt S. Little PDI-1 Reading B. Sheron D. Solorio EDO # G20030545 H. Miller, R-I C. Bixler, R-I EDO Reading File L. Marsh D. Skay L. Reyes S. Black J. Goldberg, OGC W. Kane M. Johnson OPA C. Paperiello C. Holden OCA P. Norry H. Berkow NRR Mail Room E. Merschoff J. Hannon (G20030545)
W. Dean R. Laufer L. Cox, DLPM Secretary K. Cyr/S. Burns P. Milano ACCESSION NO.: ML041700619 PACKAGE: ML041700624 INCOMING: ML032580235, ML040430132, ML033070233 *See previous concurrence OFFICE PDI-1/PM PDI-1/LA TechEd* DD PDI-1/SC DSSA/DD DRP/RI PDI/D NAME PMilano SLittle PKleene RLaufer MJohnson BHolian CHolden DATE 06/16/04 06/16/04 02/17/04 06/18/04 06/18/04 06/18/04 06/18/04 OFFICE NRR/PRB DLPM/D ADPT/NRR NRR/(A)D NAME HBerkow HBerkow for BSheron BSheron LMarsh DATE 06/17/04 06/17/04 06/18/04 06/18/04 OFFICIAL RECORD COPY
Indian Point Nuclear Generating Unit Nos. 2 & 3 cc:
Mr. Gary J. Taylor Ms. Charlene D. Faison Chief Executive Officer Manager, Licensing Entergy Operations, Inc. Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.
1340 Echelon Parkway 440 Hamilton Avenue Jackson, MS 39213 White Plains, NY 10601 Mr. John T. Herron Mr. Michael J. Columb Senior Vice President and Director of Oversight Chief Operating Officer Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.
Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. 440 Hamilton Avenue 440 Hamilton Avenue White Plains, NY 10601 White Plains, NY 10601 Mr. James Comiotes Mr. Fred Dacimo Director, Nuclear Safety Assurance Site Vice President Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.
Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. Indian Point Energy Center Indian Point Energy Center 295 Broadway, Suite 1 450 Broadway, GSB P.O. Box 249 P.O. Box 249 Buchanan, NY 10511-0249 Buchanan, NY 10511-0249 Mr. Patric Conroy Mr. Christopher Schwarz Manager, Licensing General Manager, Plant Operations Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.
Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. Indian Point Energy Center Indian Point Energy Center 295 Broadway, Suite 1 295 Broadway, Suite 2 P. O. Box 249 P.O. Box 249 Buchanan, NY 10511-0249 Buchanan, NY 10511-0249 Mr. John M. Fulton Mr. Danny L. Pace Assistant General Counsel Vice President Engineering Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc.
Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. 440 Hamilton Avenue 440 Hamilton Avenue White Plains, NY 10601 White Plains, NY 10601 Regional Administrator, Region I Mr. Brian OGrady U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Vice President, Operations Support 475 Allendale Road Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. King of Prussia, PA 19406 440 Hamilton Avenue White Plains, NY 10601 Senior Resident Inspectors Office Indian Point 2 Mr. John McCann U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Director, Nuclear Safety Assurance P.O. Box 59 Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. Buchanan, NY 10511-0038 440 Hamilton Avenue White Plains, NY 10601
Indian Point Nuclear Generating Unit Nos. 2 & 3 cc:
Senior Resident Inspectors Office Mr. William DiProfio Indian Point 3 PWR SRC Consultant U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 139 Depot Road P.O. Box 337 East Kingston, NH 03827 Buchanan, NY 10511-0337 Mr. Dan C. Poole Mr. Peter R. Smith, President PWR SRC Consultant New York State Energy, Research, and 20 Captains Cove Road Development Authority Inglis, FL 34449 17 Columbia Circle Albany, NY 12203-6399 Mr. William T. Russell PWR SRC Consultant Mr. Paul Eddy 400 Plantation Lane Electric Division Stevensville, MD 21666-3232 New York State Department of Public Service Mr. Paul Leventhal 3 Empire State Plaza, 10th Floor The Nuclear Control Institute Albany, NY 12223 1000 Connecticut Avenue NW Suite 410 Mr. Charles Donaldson, Esquire Washington, DC, 20036 Assistant Attorney General New York Department of Law Mr. Karl Coplan 120 Broadway Pace Environmental Litigation Clinic New York, NY 10271 78 No. Broadway White Plains, NY 10603 Mayor, Village of Buchanan 236 Tate Avenue Mr. Jim Riccio Buchanan, NY 10511 Greenpeace 702 H Street, NW Mr. Ray Albanese Suite 300 Executive Chair Washington, DC 20001 Four County Nuclear Safety Committee Westchester County Fire Training Center Mr. Robert D. Snook 4 Dana Road Assistant Attorney General Valhalla, NY 10592 State of Connecticut 55 Elm Street Ms. Stacey Lousteau P.O. Box 120 Treasury Department Hartford, CT 06141-0120 Entergy Services, Inc.
639 Loyola Avenue Mail Stop: L-ENT-15E New Orleans, LA 70113